Squaxin Island Tribe's Natural Resources

Fall chum salmon returned to the Puget Sound in lower abundance than forecast.  The 2008 expected Puget Sound fall chum run size was forecast to be around 635,000 chum.  In the last 5 weeks the in season run size has dropped to 350,000 chum based on WDFW commercial fisheries and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission [...]

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Early morning on November 20th the Squaxin Island Tribe’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery will open in south Puget Sound. This includes all of the marine waters south of the Tacoma Narrows except for the Nisqually Reach and Balch and Drayton passages. The fishery will be open seven days a week from one hour before sunrise [...]

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The log jams the Squaxin Island Tribe built over the last few years in Skookum Creek provided a critical refuge for chum heading upstream to spawn during the recent floods.  When flows in Skookum Creek reached 750 cfs on Wednesday afternoon (11/12/08), a number of chum like the one visible in this picture rested in [...]

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November is an excellent time to view adult chum salmon making their journey to spawn up South Puget Sound streams.  Two locations for prime view are at the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail and the McLane Nature Trail. Kennedy Creek Trail is open to the public from 10 am to 4 pm on the following days [...]

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The Squaxin Island Tribe pays USGS to operate a stream flow gage on Goldsborough Creek near downtown Shelton (see:  http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/uv/?site_no=12076800&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065).  The stream flow from the heavy rains yesterday and today have peaked at around 900 cfs.  That qualifies as a modest flood in the Goldsborough watershed.

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Chum salmon are beginning to make their way up Kennedy Creek.  This weeks stream surveys have shown increased adult chum with an estimate of 6,262 live and 264 dead chum from the Kennedy Creek falls to the mouth down at Highway 101.  With this increase of adult chum on the spawning grounds of Kennedy Creek, Squaxin Natural [...]

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